Milford voters hold off on anti-casino resolution

Monday

May 20, 2013 at 10:00 PMMay 20, 2013 at 10:25 PM

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Town meeting voters haven't officially weighed in on a proposed casino being located in town. A nonbinding resolution to express opposition to a casino was passed over by a vote of 109-42 at tonight's town meeting.

Reno DeLuzio, who made the motion to pass over Article 16, the anti-casino resolution, said that the issue would be better evaluated after developers from Foxwoods Massachusetts presented their proposal to selectmen June 3.

The Finance Committee opposed the anti-casino resolution because there was no plan to consider yet.

If selectmen negotiate a community host agreement with Foxwoods and it is approved by a town-wide referendum, town meeting would still have to vote to approve zoning changes to allow the proposed 300,000-square-foot facility off of Interstate 495 to proceed.

Foxwoods is vying with developments proposed for Everett and East Boston’s Suffolk Downs sites for the sole Eastern Massachusetts casino license.

Richard Morrison, who submitted the anti-casino article, said he was concerned about the impact of a $1 billion casino on families.

“We have over 4,000 students in the local school system ... and there has been no consideration given to the impact of a casino on these students,” he said.

He said state gaming laws don’t have any specific protection for children.

“I found report after report of children being left in locked cars in casino parking lots across the country,” Mr. Morrison continued. “Casinos seek to keep their patrons engaged with glitz, glamour and free drinks.”

Mr. Morrison said that “gambling culture” would permeate schools and homes, in what he described as a marketing strategy to introduce gambling to “the next generation of dice rollers.”

He said, “I don’t think we should lose our values to the promises that our streets will be paved with gold.”

After Mr. Morrison presented the anti-casino resolution, Mr. DeLuzio made the motion to pass over the article. Several town meeting members debated the motion to pass over before it was eventually approved.

One town meeting member argued that “this is our chance to have our voices heard.”Town meeting voters also adopted a bylaw amendment that would prohibit the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages within adult entertainment establishments.

Town Counsel Gerald M. Moody said that recent federal court decisions have upheld such bylaws, including one in Mendon.

He said: “You can’t ban adult entertainment. ... What you do is control the secondary effects. This bylaw itself seeks to control the secondary effects. The mixing of alcohol and adult entertainment does exacerbate those secondary effects.”

Milford allows adult entertainment, by special permit, within industrial zoning districts but no proposal has been presented for such a business yet.

Also, town meeting members voted unanimously to approve an $84.3 million fiscal 2014 budget, a 4 percent increase over the current budget.

A total 152 town meeting members were present, out of 264 total seats.